Prenatal breastfeeding education: its effect on breastfeeding among WIC participants

Abstract

The effect of prenatal breastfeeding education on breastfeeding incidence and duration was determined among 31 prenatal WIC participants. The subjects, assigned to a control group (n = 17) or experimental group (n = 14), received prenatal nutrition education through the WIC program. The experimental group received at least one breastfeeding education class. There was no significant difference in breastfeeding incidence between the groups, however, there was a significant difference in breastfeeding incidence by parity (p < 0.05). There was a significantly higher percentage of women still breastfeeding at 3 and 4 months postpartum in the experimental versus the control group (p < 0.05). The control group breastfed for 29.5 +/- 43.6 days, while the experimental group breastfed for 76 days +/- 104.3 (p = .05). Multiparous women who had bottle-fed previous children breastfed for a shorter duration (18 +/- 22 days) than primiparous women (60 +/- 87 days) (p < .07).